The present invention relates to machines for counting small articles and more particularly to a counter for tablets and capsules commonly referred to as drug items.
Valuable time is used by pharmacists in the tedious operation of counting out the exact number of tablets or capsules required to fill individual prescriptions. This time could be well utilized by the pharmacist in filling out the label or instructions for the user, in receiving telephone prescriptions from a physician, or in performing many of the other activities that can only be done by a Registered Pharmacist. The high volume of prescriptions now being filled by pharmacists make it desirable to provide a means for accurately counting out the required number of tablets or capsules for each particular prescription. Furthermore, some drug items may be purchased in bulk quantity which are then counted into groups and packaged in smaller containers for resale. This invention provides such a counting function.
The prior art reveals a number of counting machines designed to count a predetermined number of pills or tablets, some of which deposit the respective pills or tablets in a separate container, which are conveyed by the counting device. Some of the prior art machines are intended for the use of manufacturers where the articles are packaged in large quantity for bulk distribution rather than by the use of an individual pharmacist in filling a prescription for a relatively small number of pills or tablets.
The most pertinent of the prior art patents is U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,713, issued to us Feb. 13, 1968, for Article Counting Device.
The present invention is an improvement over our above named patent by changing the configuration and angular position of tablet or capsule receiving slots formed in the disk-like bottom of a rotating article holding hopper so that only one tablet or capsule will be positioned for contacting and tripping a switch as the tablet or capsule falls through a dispensing opening so that at the last moment before the switch contact occurs, a tablet cannot dart into the inward end of the slot far enough to trip the counting switch but not far enough to stay in position to drop out of the dispensing opening, which would result in an inaccurate count. Also the improved design prevents any tendency of tablets or capsules to bind or crush. Furthermore, it has been found that occasionally a single tablet or capsule may trip the counting switch more than one time during its passage from the slot of the disk through the exit opening thereby resulting in an inaccurate count. Provision has been made in the electrical circuit of this device to eliminate inaccurate counts of this nature.
Most of the prior art counting machines provide a single hopper which must be emptied and refilled with the tablets or capsules to be counted and various settings arranged for the passage of the particular size capsule or tablet. This invention contemplates using a separate hopper for each individual group of tablets or capsules so that the counting action may be achieved by simply setting the desired quantity and pressing a start switch. Each hopper is permanently sized and adjusted for its particular size and shape tablet or capsule.